Greek cinema as European cinema: co-productions, Eurimages and the Europeanisation of Greek cinema

Abstract

Around the start of the 2010s, while Greece found itself in the midst of a deep financial, political and social crisis that troubled its relationship to Europe, Greek cinema was being noticed in prestigious film festivals. Soon the term 'Weird Wave' was adopted to suggest the unusual aesthetics and challenging ethics of the most distinctive films that emerged from this troubled nation at the time: Yorgos Lanthimos' Dogtooth (2009) and Athina Rachel Tsangari's Attenberg (2010). Despite being made before the consequences of the crisis had been fully felt in Greece, these films became emblematic of a turning point in Greek art cinema, a shift towards a different approach to theme, narrative, style, as well asless obviouslytowards new production practices. Such practices involved a new culture of professional solidarity that involved filmmakers supporting each other to overcome financial and institutional deficits; increasingly, however, they consisted of a more systematic approach towards building European co-productions -the main (if not only) means for securing a decent budget, and also a path towards more visibility in the film festival circuit and in international markets. 1The article explores this 'extrovert' culture in Greek filmmaking. By 'extroversion' I refer to the active search for funding and production partners beyond the traditional state and private options, and towards international co-productions, which in the Greek context, effectively, means European co-productions. 2 The article argues that the intensification of co-production activity that has become more evident in the last few years has been the result of a number of factors, including the continuing impact of European institutional frameworks, the reduction of national funds towards cinema (partly as a result of the crisis), the emergence of a number of new producers trained in building co-productions, and the critical success of a number ofGreek films in prestigious festivals. The analysis draws on film studies, media industry and film policy studies as it aims to reveal the ways in which both Europe-wide and localised social, financial and professional conditions have affected the production culture in Greece, especially with regard to art/quality cinema. It focuses in particular on European coproductions as a system of funding and making films that requires transnational collaboration and exchange. The article maps out the extent to which European co-productions have been adopted in Greece, and identifies some of the ways in which they have changed its production culture. It ends with an examination of the style, themes and reception of six recent Eurimages-funded co-productions in order to assess whether and how there is discernible change in the films made in the direction of a more recognisably 'European' cinema.The study will combine quantitative and qualitative methods. Quantitatively, the number of European co-productions involving Greece since the formation of Eurimages in 1989 will be examined and situated in the broader context ...

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